My Lovely Wife by Samantha Downing – ARC Review

Summary:

Dexter meets Mr. and Mrs. Smith in this wildly compulsive debut thriller about a couple whose fifteen-year marriage has finally gotten too interesting…

Our love story is simple. I met a gorgeous woman. We fell in love. We had kids. We moved to the suburbs. We told each other our biggest dreams, and our darkest secrets. And then we got bored.

We look like a normal couple. We’re your neighbors, the parents of your kid’s friend, the acquaintances you keep meaning to get dinner with.

We all have secrets to keeping a marriage alive.

Ours just happens to be getting away with murder.

Review: 5 Stars

My Lovely Wife had me hooked from the first chapter and the only reason I didn’t finish it in one sitting was to sleep. This thriller provided a different perspective than others on the market, the perspective of those behind the murders. I found myself not only on the edge of my seat, but also rooting for the villains of the story to get away with murder. My Lovely Wife started out as the most twisted love story ever, but evolved into so much more than that. Trust me thriller fans, this is a book that you won’t want to miss.

The writing was absolutely addictive. Details of family life were shared, making a couple who bonded over murder absolutely human and likable. These are characters that you would root against in any other scenario, but the way this story was told you can’t help but relate to these twisted characters. The pacing never slowed down and there were no unnecessary details. You can’t help but fly through this story and be left in awe of the writing and plotting.

The main character is never referred to by his name, only as Dad or the husband of Millicent. I found myself wondering the implications of this after reading and I think it helped me as a reader see him as a husband and a father rather than a murderer. In contrast I could see Millicent as cold or cruel, but I found myself sympathetic to the father in the story. It both keeps you at a distance and makes him relatable at the same time.

Luckily the blurb gives very little about the plot away and neither will I, this is a story that is best read when it is allowed to unfold naturally. This thriller managed to stand out in a genre full of novels trying to grab your attention. My Lovely Wife was a sadistic love story wrapped in the packaging of a psychological thriller. I loved every second of reading and as a critical reader I can’t come up with any aspect that I didn’t love. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is a fan of the mystery or thriller genre.